Paradise for a day.
by itsaPEZwitch
Summary: Ever since buffy's come back...everything's different. She's even having strange dreams and hallucinations of a human angel this takes place right before smashed and is what i think should have happened if the darned WB let them have crossovers!!!!!
1. Default Chapter

A/N: Okay, this takes place right before Smashed and what could have happened if Buffy remembered something and if that damned WB would let them have Buffy/Angel Crossovers!!!  
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**Paradise for a day  
Chapter 1: Buffy  
By: Hope**

  
  


"I'll never forget…I'll never forget…" Her own voice filled her head. Buffy opened her eyes and looked around. Where was she? She slowly sat up, still looking around when she saw them, when she saw herself and Angel standing in front of her, holding each other, crying.

Buffy didn't dare speak; she had had dreams like this before, especially since…since she came back. "I'll never forget Angel…" Buffy…the other buffy kept saying to herself as Angel held her; she kept saying it as though she were trying to convince herself.

Angel's eyes drifted to the clock, Buffy looked at it, 3 seconds to 9 am…. 2…. 1…She looked back at them, they were both crying, holding onto each other as tight as they could…and then...buffy remembered this now. She had been in L.A. visiting her dad for the weekend, right after she had found out that Angel was in Sunnydale and didn't see her, she was there to confront him about it, tell him that she thought they should stay away from each other, the reason why he originally moved. She was standing in the doorway to his office; her hand was just departing from the doorknob.

Angel looked disoriented, like he didn't know where he was anymore but then he looked at buffy, and then at the clock. It was 9 a.m. but they were in different clothes…After buffy finished telling Angel about whatever she had come there to tell him at the time, a demon burst in through the window and Angel automatically grabbed the clock and smashed it against the crystal on the demons forehead and he was dead. Angel said that he had been catching up on his reading so he knew what to do but…

"Buffy…." A voice whined. Buffy opened her eyes and saw Dawn sitting over her. "About time! Sheesh you'd sleep through the apocalypse if you weren't like the slayer and all."

Buffy sat up and looked at her sister. "What do you want?" She said yawning. "I missed the bus and Willow is still in her room sulking, so I need you to drive me to school." She said while looking around Buffy's room, eyeing a particular necklace of Buffy's.

"Alright, go downstairs and get all of your stuff ready, I'll be down there in 5 minutes." She said. Dawn was already down the hallway by the time she finished her sentence. "Kids…" buffy, whispered. Once she was like that, about millennia ago though. Buffy walked over to her closet and just took the first thing off the hanger that she could find.

It was a red sundress that her dad had gotten her a while ago when they went on one of their "I'm sorry I don't see you more often" shopping sprees. It had little flowers on it, it was pretty buffy wondered why she hadn't worn it more often. She slipped it on and walked towards the mirror, beginning to attempt to brush out her bed hair. Buffy looked into the mirror and stared at herself. Everything here was so wrong. Nothing was the way it used to be, willow living in her mother's bedroom, Anya and Xander getting married…. Giles back in England. It was almost too much for Buffy to bear but she somehow managed to speed through her life, acting as though she was ok, acting as though there was nothing wrong with her. Just acting like she was the old Buffy Summers. "BUFFY!" Dawn screamed up the stairs impatiently. Buffy snapped out of her trance and grabbed her purse.

"Coming." She walked out the door and stopped outside of Willow's room. "Hey Will, can I come in?" she pushed the door open and found her friend sitting on the bed reading.

"Oh, hi buffy." Willow held up a weak smile as she put down the book.

"Hey, I'm going to drive Dawn to school, do you need anything? I'm going to stop by the Magi…"

"Actually, I do need some things from there." Willow recited some words in latin and a pen and paper appeared in front of her. She took them and began writing down various ingredients for some kind of spell. She got up and handed it to Buffy, "you could just tell Anya to add it to my bill."

"Will…I don't think that…" Buffy hesitated. "actually, I'll be back by 11 latest…I'll try to get the stuff for you." She said, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her with the paper in her hand.

Buffy saw something inside of Willow that she remembered to well…when Angel left her…when Angel left her she broke down, but not in front of her friends. She wouldn't let them see her like that, especially after what had just happened with Faith and everything else that had gone wrong that year. Willow was truly heartbroken from what happened with Tara and Buffy didn't want to see Willow break down, now wasn't the time to complain about her using too much magic.

"About time." Dawn complained as Buffy finally made her way down the stairs. 

"Sorry, had to tell Willow I was going." She said as she grabbed her coat and walked out the door with Dawn behind her, talking about some evil teacher that she was pretty sure was some kind of demon because he assigned so much homework. 


	2. Mohra Demon

**Paradise for a day  
Chapter 2: Mohra Demon  
By:Hope**

  
  
  


"Oh! A customer." Anya stated happily to herself when she heard the bell on the front door chime. She got up from her seat and began walking to the door to greet the costumer when she looked up and saw Buffy closing the door behind herself . "Oh…hi buffy." Anya sighed and walked back over to her seat. "…Nice to see you too Anya." Buffy said while looking for the things on Willow's list. "Where do you keep your…" buffy tried to read what willow had written down on the paper but it was some strange latin name so she couldn't understand it. "Your this?" she asked walking over to Anya and showing her the list.

"You're buying things today?" Anya asked excitedly. "Buying things from your friend's shop is good." She smiled cheerfully and began walking around the store, grabbing things as she went along.

Buffy walked over to the table and sat down. She began trying to scratch some imaginary dirt out of her fingernails until she looked onto the table. "Anya…what's this?" Buffy asked, picking up the book on the table. 

Anya walked over to buffy to look at it. "Oh, that's just a book on demons that Giles left behind, he expects me to ship it back to him, like that's going to happen. Just because he owns it doesn't mean…"

"No, Anya." Buffy interrupted, pointing to the picture on the page that the book was opened to. "What's that?"

"Oh, that's just a Mohra demon." She said, walking over to the cash register with all of Willow's things in her hands.

"A Mohra demon…" buffy said to herself as she began to read from the book. "The Mohra demon destroys bringers of good by disabling or killing them. There have not been many sightings of this particular demon, they are usually trained by some greater power and used to get rid of or disable their foes. Although their physical abilities may seem quite adequate to deal with the majority of demons they might face, their true power lies within their blood. When they mix their blood with that of a demon's…it will disable the demon and render it almost helpless by making it human…" Buffy's thoughts trailed off back to the dream that she had had that night.

All of it had seemed to real, and it was so detailed, so intricate…and a bunch of other words that buffy couldn't remember. She made sure that Anya wasn't looking and slipped the book into her messenger bag and took Willow's things off of the counter. "Thanks Anya, Willow said to put it on her bill." Anya turned and politely smiled at Buffy, she was dealing with a customer. "At the rate that Willow's going I'll be a billioinaire by the time I'm married." She whispered under her breath as buffy walked out of the store. 

* * * * * * * * 

"Will?" Buffy questioned while putting her coat in the closet. "I'm Home." She yelled up the stairs. She turned around and saw willow standing in front of her, dressed and eating pop tarts. "Pop tart?" She asked, offering buffy one.

Buffy held out her hand in a no gesture. "No thanks, actually I was wondering if you could help me with something…" She looked at her friend, not really knowing if she could ask this from her. After all, Tara had just left Willow and moved out of the house two days ago for her excessive use in magic and Buffy didn't want to jepordize any chance that Willow might have at getting Tara back…no matter how gross it seemed to her.

"Yea?" Willow asked. They were now sitting at the counter of the kitchen. Buffy looked at willow and for one moment she could have sworn that she saw the Willow that she had first become friends with 5 years ago. But that was just for a moment, the next thing she knew this willow was back, the Willow that she had found herself drifting apart from since her return.

"A spell. I need to see something….I've been having these dreams and everything is so detailed…"

"Is it another prediction of an apocolypse? Are we all going to die soon or do i…"

"Will, no." Buffy laughed but her laugh died down as soon as she remembered what she was talking about. "I've been having these dreams where I'm watching something, but everything up until the end is really really hazy. I think that it was some kind of spell to make me forget things and I want to find out what it was that I was supposed to forget. Can you help me?" She asked her friend pleadingly, the one thing that she knew she could count on these days from Willow was the willingness to perform magic at any given time.

"Sure, I'll need to get a few things though, and it'll take a while. We'd have to send you back to the time that it took place, mentally at least. And it's perfectly safe too, it's kinda like that spell you used last year when you found out about Dawn." Willow said, trying to sound like she was totally sure of what she was saying. 

"Good, I can deal with that." Buffy said, forcing a smile. "When can we have this done by?"

"The supplies aren't that hard to find but I'll need to know what specific time your looking for and things that might help." Buffy took the book out of her bag and opened up to the page on the Mohra demon. 

"That's the guy I'm looking for. Two years ago, like almost exactly I think, I went to visit my dad in L.A. and on the way I stopped by Angel's and this demon attacked while I was there." She said while pointing to the image and handing the book over to her friend.

"Well he isn't a very pretty fellow." Willow said, trying to crack a joke. "Ok, I can get everything that we need by tonight, you free?" Willow asked. "Yep, I was planning on beating up the dummy in the Magic Box but I guess I can do that before Dawn gets home."

"Ok, I better start getting the stuff, see you later." Willow said as she walked out of the kitchen and up to her room. 

"Oki Doki…I wonder what Xander's doing…" Buffy said to herself as she walked out the door.

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	3. Uncovered

**Paradise for a day  
Chapter 3: Uncovered  
By: Hope**

  
  


Willow laid all of the supplies out on the table in front of her. She picked up the book that was on the table on the Mohra demon and started reading through it. Buffy said that she had seen one of these when she had gone to visit Angel after thanksgiving, but he had killed it right away with no problem. "What you doing…?" Willow hadn't even noticed Dawn walk into the room. Willow looked up and saw the teenager who must have just gotten back from her weekly visit with Tara. "Oh, just laying out some supplies for a spell…" Dawn looked a little shocked, like she couldn't believe that Willow was still using magic. "Oh, the spell is for Buffy, she asked me for it. And I just want to help her re-adjust….it must be…"

"Hard." Dawn said, finishing Willow's thought. "Well I'm going to go up to my room and try to finish some of my homework so I'll talk to you later…" She turned around and walked up the stairs. Willow watched her and she could almost feel a tear begin to form. Dawn seemed so uncomfortable around Willow now…ever since that Tara left.

She heard the door open and then close and tried to whipe away the thought. "Hey Will." Buffy said, walking into the living room. "You got all the stuff…?" She asked, looking over everything on the table.

"Yes, I've been going over the spell to make sure that I have everything down right and…Well I think that we could pull it off." Buffy forced a smile and sat down on the ground across from Willow.

"What do I need to do?"

"I need you to recite these words." Willow handed Buffy the computer print out sheet and started grouping some of the ingredients together. "We can set up the circle right here." She stood up and started placing the candles and herbs in a circle behind Buffy. "You just have to sit in the center, hold this." Se said, handing Buffy a pendant. "And chant that." She smiled, proud that she could be of some help to her friend. She had felt so powerless and guilty when it came to Buffy in the past few weeks…especially after that singing demon had come and everyone had revealed whatever they were thinking or hiding.

"Ok, lets do it." Buffy said, she sat in the center of the circle as Willow turned all of the lights off around her. 

"This will seem like a long time to you but it will only last a few seconds for the rest of the world…ready?" Willow sat on the couch and looked at Buffy. She hadn't seen this kind of determination on her friend since…well since they went to go kill Glory.

"Yea, I'm good." Buffy began chanting the words on the paper and everything seemed to slow down around her. The further into the spell she got, the slower the seconds on the clock in the living room seemed to tick and the lighter everything got around her. "So mote it be. Hecate goddess of night. So mote it be." Buffy closed her eyes. (Willow typed in directions of what to do on the page.)

When she opened them she was on the docks of a beach, walking towards the end of the pier. She couldn't seem to control what she was doing…it was like she was just there to watch. She found herself turning around and looking at the entrance…that's when she saw him. He walked out from under the terrace and squinted his eyes, not used to the sun. Buffy's mouth dropped open in awe. How…how was Angel out here…in daylight? He walked over to her and they began to kiss. She closed her eyes and when the reopened them she found herself in a bed…and a very naked Angel was lying next to her.

He looked at her and smiled in a way he hadn't since before he first lost his soul…his smile said that everything was alright and that they didn't have to worry about the rest of the world…that they didn't have to worry because they were together and nothing else mattered.

Buffy didn't realize how much she had actually missed Angel until this moment, even when she had gone to see him when she first came back, she still didn't realize how she could hardly live without him. She had been slowly falling apart this past month or so…she was hardly even human anymore, like she sang when Sweet the demon came…she was just going through the motions.

Buffy studied Angel's face, he seemed so happy…she didn't think that she had ever really seen Angel that happy. A flash of metal caught her eyes when she realized that he was wearing a cross….the cold metal leaned against his skin, gravity forcing it down. So many things were different here, and buffy didn't remember any of them. Had willow brought her back without some of her other memories? Or maybe after that last spell, before tara left…? There were so many possibilities of how she could have forgotten about it but she didn't let those fill her mind as she watched Angel smiling and looking into her own eyes. He was human…

As soon as this thought registered in her brain, Buffy found herself in a room with two really shiney looking people who were standing in front of angel. She stood there and watched in amazement when Angel offered his own human life for the slayer's. "You have until a day after the Mohra demon attacked. When it hits 9:00 am, everyone but you shall forget…" The rest that followed was everything that she had seen in her dream.

"Hecate…goddess of night, what you had once created I ask now destroy. What was once enchanted may now be mundane. So mote it be." As soon as the last words slipped out of her mouth, she found herself sitting on the floor in her living room with Willow looking at her, smiling. 

"How was it?"


	4. Cell phones have bad connections

**Paradise for A Day  
Chapter 3?  
By:Hope**

  
  


Everything that Buffy thought she had known was torn to pieces the second that she had seen Angel walk out and kiss her in the sunlight. It did that to her in both realities. In the one where she was able to have him, to love him and also in the one where she forgot and was cursed to remember when it might be too late. Buffy answered Willow's previous question with a weak smile as she walked up the stairs to her room in a zombie-like motion. 

Buffy walked in her room, not even bothering to close the door, or even noticing that it was there. She walked to her dresser and opened a drawer, taking out a little box which was hidden in a small purse stuffed behind her socks. Buffy took the box out and sat on her bed, looking at it. "Why hello slayer." Spike said, revealing himself from a hiding place and closing the door behind him. 

Buffy took no notice to him as she examined the box. She opened it carefully, as though if the applied too much pressure to it would break it into a billion pieces, sending all hope of ever finding it's contents away. She looked inside and slowly took the ring that had hibernated in there since Angel left for L.A. Buffy couldn't stand to even look at it for so long, Angel had given this to her the night that he had lost his soul. He had told her that it meant friendship and love, which he would always want to have with her. She had gladly accepted it but… 

"Slayer…." Spike urged, walking over to the bed, not seeing what she was looking at. He waved his hand in front of her face, making her look up at him. She blinked and quickly put the ring back in the box and shoved it into her pocket. When all of this was done she looked up at Spike, still emotionless. 

"What do you want Spike?" Spike looked at her like he was going to say something about what she was just doing, and maybe ask her what she was looking at. But then he decided against it. 

"So Summers," He said sitting down on the bed next to her, buffy inched away. "I'm, guessing your not one of those girls who kisses and tells?" He smiled and winked as Buffy stood up. 

"WHAT are you doing here Spike?" Buffy said, putting her recent emotions and thoughts aside to deal with the residential vampire. 

"Well I just came here to see if there was anything that you needed." William the bloody smirked and Buffy punched him in the face, causing him to jump back in pain. 

Spike bit his lip, sucking up the blood that made its way out of his new open cut. "Buffy, are you…" Willow began as she walked in the room. "Oh, hi Spike." She said, noticing that he was holding onto a part of his face like he was just punched. "Buffy, I was just wondering if you were ok…y'know if there was anything in there that you didn't like or…" She left it at that, looking at Spike then Buffy still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. "Maybe I should just talk to you later." She said as she began to walk out of the room. Buffy ran to the door and stopped Willow from closing it and then looked over at Spike. "Spike I think that you should go now, don't you have any kittens to win or something?" Willow looked horrified. 

"Kittens…?" Spike shrugged and walked over to Buffy and whispered something into her ear, then picked up his pace again and walked out the door, giving Willow a slight nod as he passed her. 

Willow turned around and walked back into Buffy's room, closing the door behind her. The redhead walked over to the bed and sat down, staring up at her friend. She still couldn't believe that she was able to bring Buffy back…Willow was always trying to be optimistic, telling the others that it would work, that they would have their Buffy back but she had her own doubts… 

Buffy took something out of her pocket and held onto it tightly as she began pacing back and forth, muttering things to herself. "Buffy…?" Willow asked, not knowing if Buffy had forgotten if Willow was still there or not. 

The slayer turned to face her friend and unclasped her fist, revealing the ring that Angel had given to her so long ago. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to Willow, staring at the ring in her palm. "He told me that he loved me Will…He told me that he loved me then he left me." She looked up at her friend and tears began to streak down her face. 

"Buffy…what's wrong, what did you see?" Willow asked tenderly, trying to pry knowledge out of her friend but also trying to sound like the friend she was…the friend that she wanted to be. 

"He was human Will." Buffy said, wiping the tears away from her face. "He was human but then he gave it up, he gave up being mortal so that he would save my life. But I still died…maybe…" She didn't want to finish that thought but she felt that she had too…what if it wasn't Willow's spell that brought her back? What if it was because Angel had traded his life for hers…? 

"Maybe…?" Willow asked, trying not to push Buffy into saying anything but still wanting to know. 

"Maybe…we should get pizza tonight? Haven't had that since I died." Buffy said as she got up and walked over to the phone to order pizza. 

"maybe…." Willow thought again to herself. 

Buffy walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone…before she knew what she was doing she found herself dialing Angel's number, she had memorized it as soon as she had gotten it…even though she never told anyone that. "Hello?" A familiar English voice answered the phone, his voice was strained and hoarse…as though he had been yelling or screaming or… "Hello?" 

"W-wesley?" Buffy said, already wishing that she had just called for the pizza and not Angel. 

"Buffy?" Wesley asked, sounding alarmed and delighted at the same time. "Buffy, how are you?" He asked, Buffy could hear people moving around in the background, it sounded like they were in a car…was that a baby she heard crying?? 

"I'm fine…Why are you answering Angel's cell phone for him?" She asked, suddenly realizing the fact. 

"Well you seem to have caught us in a bit of a…" She heard tires screeching in the background, "dilemma." 

"Wesley who is it?" Buffy heard Angel in the background, his voice was staggering, she would have thought that he was out of breath…if he did breath at least. 

"It's…" Wesley covered the phone with his hand so that Buffy wouldn't hear him. "It's buffy sum…" She heard someone grab the phone out of Wesley's hand before he was able to say anything about it. 

"Buffy?" Angel asked, his voice was so reassuring, Buffy could spend eternity only listening to that voice. 

"Angel are you alright?" She asked, worried. 

"Yea…I'm fine it's just…" She heard the tires squeal some more, as though the car was out of control. 

"Angel are you running from something?" She pressed, feeling as though she needed to do something about it. 

"Yes..it's…" 

"Angel?!" Their connection began to break and static filled her ears. "Angel! Come to Sunnydale! I promise you'll be safe here, Angel?" The line went dead and Buffy put the phone back on the hook, not knowing what to do. What was going on with Angel…why did she hear a baby in the background? And what were they running from? So many questions filled her mind but she couldn't take it anymore. If Angel was alive…if Angel was still on this earth then he would come to her…but what if he wasn't alright? Angel might need her help…

Before she knew what she was doing, Buffy found herself walking up to her room and grabbing her weapons bag and a jacket. "Buffy what are you…?" Dawn asked, coming out of her room.

"Angel needs me." She said, not hesitating. "I'll call you when I get there." She stated as she walked out the door and to the car.

"'bout time you came out here slayer…" Spike said as he walked off the deck, Buffy ignored him and got in the car and turned the ignition on. "Slayer?" Spike opened the door to the passanger seat and sat next to her. "What are you doing?"

"Angel needs me." That was all she could think about now. Nothing else mattered at that moment to her. Spike reached his hand out to the door and opened it, but hesitated in getting out. "Spike…" buffy said, her gaze locking into his. "I might need you. Angel's in real danger and I…I'm not sure if I can help him alone."

Spike closed the door and put a cigarette into his mouth, lighting it a second later. "Well then I say we put the petal to the metal mate because I don't work very well during the day." 

Buffy put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway, leaving Willow and Dawn in the house, not knowing what the hell was going on. 

  
  
~~~~~~~ A/N: So..what ya think? I was in a rush cause my brother's annoying…wants his computer time but if it toaly sucks then I'll edit and change it soon! Lata 


	5. Doc

**Paradise for a Day  
Chapter 5: Doc  
By: Hope**

  
  


Angel hated to leave Buffy wondering like that but he had no choice, he had to jump out of the car with the baby and the cell phone just wasn't worth holding onto. But he knew somewhere deep down in his non-beating heart that she would figure out something to do, find a way to contact him. 

The last thing that angel had heard from her was come to Sunnydale and he wished that he could take her up on that offer but he didn't want to put anymore lives in danger, especially hers. 

He ran down the alley as fast as he could, checking behind him to make sure that no one was following him. Gunn had offered to lure the demons away by sending them on a giant goose chase in the car. Everyone else had jumped out and ran their separate ways. It seemed that the underworld was able to find out of the baby's birth the same second that he had, as soon as he ran out of the alley where the vampire hunter was watching him and jumped into the car, demons began emerging from every corner and chased the car. 

Some called his child the miracle baby, others thought of it as the end to the demon world; Angel hoped that his son was both. He hardly even had time to look at him with all of the running…but he heard his crying, the incessant wailing of a newborn baby usually caused many people a headache but to him it was music to his ears. 

Angel ducked into an abandoned building until he was sure that he heard the footsteps of the demons that had been chasing him pass, thinking that he had continued going straight. He walked out of the building and held the baby steadily under his jacket as he emerged to the main road. Normally he would just walk back to Cordelia's where they had all promised to meet but he was afraid that the rain and the cold would hurt the baby or somehow make him sick so he hailed for a taxi instead. 

Angel stepped into the taxi and told him the directions to Cordelia's. The driver was a friendly old man, whom looked at angel cooing the baby through the mirror…he didn't seem shocked that Angel had no reflection either. "What an adorable little creature." The driver said, looking back onto the road. Angel smiled.

"Yes…he is."

"May I ask what his name is?" The baby quieted down and there was silence in the car for a few moments as Angel tried to think.

"Doyle." He said. Doyle had been a good friend of Angel's who had sacrificed his life for Angel and Cordelia's only a year or so ago. Angel loved his friend dearly but now he was thinking of how the name sounded. "Actually, I haven't quite decided yet." He said, laughing and tickling the newborn. 

"Quite a handsome baby." The driver said as he pulled over to the curb and turned around, smiling to Angel. Angel reached his hand over to his pocket to grab his wallet but the driver just looked at him and smiled. "It's on me sir, not every day that I get a man like you in my cab."

Angel didn't quite know what the man meant but he accepted the generous offer anyway. "Thanks." He said as he opened the door to the car and stepped out. He hesitated and turned around, looking back at the kindly old man. He looked to the license picture and information that they had on the compartment in the front seat. "Doc."

The demon that had caused Buffy's life smiled, his eyes flashing to black when Angel turned around. "The baby certainly looks like her." Angel turned around yet again, with the door still open. Doc turned around and smiled. "He looks like Buffy I mean." Without any warning he stepped into drive and Angel fell out of the car, landing on his back but protecting the baby from any harm.

**Meanwhile…**

"So slayer," Spike said, he was at the wheel now and buffy was in the passenger seat, staring at the window like she was in her own separate world. When she heard spike speak she turned and looked at him, her eyes were puffy and wet from what must have been tears. "What has your boy Angelu…Angel gotten himself into this time?" He asked while throwing his cigarette out the window.

Buffy didn't even know why Spike was there with her. He hated Angel, when he had a soul and when he didn't have one so why would he even consider helping him? "I…I don't know." Buffy finally said, looking back out the window and wondering what the answer to that question really was. "He needs me though…I can feel it…"

Spike took his eyes off of Buffy and back onto the road, tears were beginning to swell at the edges of his eyes, but he didn't let her see it. He would never let her see him weak, not again, not after that song and dance number he put on a few weeks earlier. How could she feel this way for Angel and not him? Spike was younger, had the cool English accent going on and has the bloodiest best choice of clothes! Spike slammed his hand down on the steering wheel, smiling and feeling proud of himself. 

Buffy looked back at Spike like he was crazy. He looked at her and shrugged. "Just thinking about all the evil that we'll be killing mate! When you're allied with the big bad you always have the front row seats for a good ass kicking at any given time." Buffy snorted, trying not to laugh. Even after all of these years Spike still referred to himself as 'the big bad', it probably did wonders for his ego. 

Spike looked at her and smiled, then he looked back on the road. "So, do you by any chance know where we'll be heading once we're in L.A.?" He questioned her. "I guess that we'd check at the hotel, I doubt that Angel would go back there if he's in trouble though…he's too smart for that." Buffy said, her voice was now emotionless. 

Spike had hoped that her mood swings and lack of emotion would end soon but he knew better. Even though he was happy that she was back and didn't thank Satan or god or whomever vampires were supposed to thank every day that she was back, even if she did hate him, tease him and break his heart. 

'That's the thing about magic. There's always consequences. Always!' Spike had said that when he had first found out that she came back…and he still believed every word of it. No matter how much she was like Buffy, how much she looked like her, smelled like her…tasted like her…the old Buffy Summers was gone for good…. at least he thought so. 

**Back in Sunnydale…**

"You mean she just took off?!" Xander didn't believe what Willow was telling him, that was so unlike Buffy…even though she had been through a lot lately. It didn't seem like Willow was able to stop talking, she was panicking, talking in her old Willow like dialogue. "Will, we'll meet you at the magick box in 20 minutes…yes, bring Dawn also, and Spi…WHAT Spike went with her? Ok just meet us there." Xander hung up the phone and ran over to his room and sat on his bed, trying to wake up Anya.

"So you wish it? Done." She mumbled in her sleep, obviously reliving the old days of her vengeance demon hood. She opened her eyes and looked at Xander, smiling. "Hello Xander, did you wake me up so that we could…."

"Buffy's gone, she just left and Spike's with her, we need to get to the magick box right away and meet Willow and Dawn there." Xander interrupted. Anya's smile faded and she sat up, pouting. 

"But the sun's not even up yet…" Xander looked at her and gave her the puppy dog eyes that he hoped would work and get her out of bed and to the shop. "Alright…alright...you look so cute like that." They quickly kissed and got ready to go to the Magick Box.


	6. Uneeded Words

**Paradise for A Day  
Chapter 6: Unneeded Words  
By: Hope**  


  


Doc walked into the dimly lit cavern with his glasses in his hands and a sweet yet sinister smile on his disguised face. It had been over 3 months sine he completed the ritual to use the key. He had thrown that pitiful vampire over the edge of the tower and completed the ritual in time when she had shown up. 

"Dawn." Doc turned around, knife still in his hand and saw the slayer rush up to the ledge, never hesitating, never stopping to catch her breath. 

"This will be interesting." He recalled himself saying. The slayer had paid no attention to him and just simply pushed him off the edge, as he had recently done with the vampire. 

Although it was unlikely, he had survived the long fall and came-to only seconds after Buffy jumped into the portal. And even though he was very happy that the slayer had perished once and for all, but the ritual was a waste and the portal was closed. 

"Hello?" Doc snapped out of his trance and realized that there was a demon waving his hand in front of his face, with a cigarette in his mouth. 

Doc placed his glasses on his eyes and smiled as he offered out his hand for a hand shake. "Sorry sir, just thinking back on the good times." The demon ignored his offer and simply turned around and began pacing back and forth. "Well…might I say what a lovely place this is." Doc said, truly admiring the filthy, empty cavern. There were a few sacred writings on the walls and a T.V. set on the opposite end, with a bed and a chair near it. 

"Thanks, I just redecorated." The two demons stood in silence, admiring the cold and evil look of the cave. "I hear that you have news on his whereabouts." The demon said while taking another puff of his cigarette. 

"That depends…do you have anything that I might find important?" Doc asked. The demon that was smoking walked through the wall and came back a few seconds later with a brown suitcase in his hand. He set it down on the bed and opened it. Doc looked in and smiled, pleased. "He's at Cordelia Chase's apartment." He said as he quickly closed up the suit case and carried it out of the cavern under his arm.

He emerged onto the street and stepped into the drivers seat of his taxi cab. He closed the door behind him and opened up the suitcase greedily smiling at the contents. Located inside of the case was a mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card, a signed baseball and a Hzeiklatcha Orb. "Very lovely…" He whispered, smiling to himself.

  
  
**Sunydale----**  
  


Xander was pacing back and forth inside of the Magick Box, still waiting for Willow and Dawn to show up, Anya was sitting at the table bvy the cash register and was staring dreamily at a bridal magazine placed directly in front of her. 

The knob of the door turns and Dawn and Willow walked inside, greeting a worried Xander and a sleepy Anya. "Any word?" Xander asked, still not sure what was completely going on. He could hardly understand Willow on the phone before but he knew that it wasn't just Buffy leaving to go get groceries or something the way that Willow had told it. The only thoughts registering in Xander's half asleep mind were: Buffy left Sunnydale. With her weapons. With Spike. 

"She doesn't usually drive." Dawn said, eyeing an amulet on a bookshelf. 

"Dawn's right." Willow joined in as Anya stood up and walked over to them. "Buffy would walk anywhere that she could, unless she was going somewhere fa…" 

"Angel." Anya said, happy that she had thought of something that might help. Everyone stared at her for a few moments, not knowing what she meant. "She probably went to visit Angel." She said, trying to clue them in. "Unrequanted love, it's a beautiful thing…" Anya's voice drifted off as she went back to day dreaming of the perfect wedding. 

"Actually…" Dawn said, catching everyone but Anya's attention and gaze. "I think that I heard her say something about Angel, when she was walking out of her room I mean." Dawn said.

"ok!" Xander replied immediately. "Then will, call Angel, see if he's there and if not call Cordelia, Westley, and anyone else that he knows in L.a. but try the hotel first, if he's alright then that's probably where he'll be." Xander took a breath. "Wow, I just thought all of that up by myself! And in less than a day!!" Xander said, trying to releave some of the pressure but also because he was proud of himself. 

Anya squeezed his arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Goo Xander!" She said happily as Willow and Dawn just stared at them…

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**  
  
A/n: Yea I know it's a really short chapter but I wanted to be able to get one in today! 


	7. Longest Chapter Yet

**Paradise for a day  
Chapter 7: Longest Chapter yet  
By: Hope  
**

"Angel!" Cordelia said, hugging her friend as he entered the apartment. "We were worried that something might…." She looked down and saw the baby who was crying. "why hello there cutie." She said in a baby voice. She reached out her arms, hoping that she would be able to hold him and she looked at Angel pleadingly. "please?" She asked. 

Angel looked at her then at the baby. He had promised Darla that he wouldn't let anyone touch her son. He wanted to be everything and so much more for him but…but what that cab driver had said to him affected him inside somehow. He handed the baby to Cordelia. 

Cordelia smiled happily and continued cooing the new born baby as Angel walked over to Gunn and Westley whom were pacing back and forth in the bedroom of the apartment. Westley looked up and smiled at Angel. "Good to know that we all made it, I presume that Fred is with you?" Westley asked. 

Angel's smile dropped immediately as westley asked the question. "You mean she's not here with you?" Without giving him any time to answer, Angel ran into the living room. "Cordelia, have you seen Fred?" 

Cordelia looked up at Angel with an emotionless face. "We thought she left with you…" 

"WATCH Conner, don't let anything near him, don't let anything else in this whole building. I'll be back as soon as I can, with Fred." A second later Angel was back outside, running towards the hotel, that was where she would go if she was in trouble, he was sure of it.

"Who's Conner?" Cordelia asked, confused. Westley looked at her then at the baby and she followed his gaze. "Oh." 

**Meanwhile… **

"This is the street!" Buffy said, breaking an hour or more of silence in the small car. 

Spike made a right onto the street and looked at Buffy whose gaze was locked on a large building to the right of them. "I fancy this is it then, mate?" Spike asked, following her gaze to the 1920's style hotel. 

Buffy answered Spike by looking at him, her face blank from all emotion and then staring back at the hotel. "Well it seems that Angel has gotten pretty popular with the vampire and demon community around these parts." Spike said, noticing all of the demons that were gathered around the hotel. "I don't think we'll be able to get a bloody parking space within a block or two at least." He said, looking around for an open piece of curb. 

"What do you…?" Buffy asked, snapping out of her trance. She looked around and saw all of them, gathering in front of the house. The demons with the purple robes were working on their spell and the vampires were getting out of their cars, getting ready to rush into the hotel for whatever reason they had. "…mean." Buffy finished. 

She leaned over the passenger seat to get her weapons bag. "Why hello there." Spike said to himself, smirking. While Buffy had tried to reach over to get her bag, in the 10 seconds or so that she was locating and lifting it up at least, her butt was placed right in front of Spike. 

"Been working out slayer?" Buffy ignored the comment and brought the bag to the front seat, opening it to reveal a very nicely polished and VERY sharp double bladed Axe, four stakes, some holy water, a sword and a crossbow. Buffy quickly grabbed a stake and shoved it up her sleeve, perfectly concealing it and took the sword out, admiring it's shine. 

Spike took the Axe, smiling at it. Buffy looked at him and thought that he was reliving some kill or great moment long ago…Spike was thinking about how many pieces he would cut Angelus up into once they met again. He noticed her staring and gave a weak smile before looking out onto the street. "Do you suggest we play nice or just kill as many of them as possible, trying to get to Angelus in there?" Spike asked, already bloodthirsty for a kill. 

Ever since he had gotten that damn chip in his head, the only high that he was able to get was off of killing other demons…and of course being with Buffy but that was different. 

After Buffy had died by jumping into the portal he had searched for Doc's body, the demon that had thrown him off of the tower. But it was gone. He kept telling himself that maybe he was swallowed up by the earth when that earth quake thing happened during the portal but then again, he knew better. He knew that a demon would survive at the most impossible odds if they were determined. Buffy stepped out of the car and Spike snapped out of vengeance land and followed her lead. A dirty, cheap looking vampire was the first to spot them and instead of calling to the other vamps and demons, he decided to walk over there and make fun of the little human girl with a sword. "What is a little…" He sniffed the air around Buffy and smiled. "…helpless human girl doing here on a night like this?" 

Vampires these days, they just had absolutely no taste in who they sired. It was a real shame, Spike had sired some pretty good vamps himself back in the days. It was just too bad that he couldn't contribute anymore to the vampire community, now all he could do was to rid it of lugs like the vamp in front of him. 

"Little, yes. Girl, yes." Spike backed up from Buffy, he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get hit by the sword or a stake when she was kicking the crap out of this guy. Buffy pulled the sword from behind her back and smiled. "Helpless, hell no." She swung the sword like a baseball bat and took the vamp's head off before he even realized what was happening. 

The guys in the purple robes stopped their chanting and all of the demons, vampires, humans and other faced Buffy and Spike. "They are here to protect the child…" A vampire in a sort of ninja outfit snickered. "Won't do you any good, no one can protect the child from us. He was born from the darkness and it is there that he shall die." 

Buffy and Spike just looked at the vampire like he was crazy. "I'm not here to protect any child but now that you mention it, I think I could do some more good work in this city while I'm here. And another thing, I know someone that can protect this child or whatever it is from you." Buffy said, holding the sword up as though she was ready to strike at any given time. 

"And what makes you think that, little girl?" The vampire asked, starting to walk closer to the slayer and her vampire companion. 

The rest of the demons had oddly stayed still, watching what was going to happen. "Because she's the bloody slayer you imbeciles." Spike yelled, half laughing. 

Spike looked at Buffy and shrugged. "Sorry mate, but you were taking to long to come up with one of those cute puns of you…" The vampires and other demons began to charge at them. 

* * * * * 

"Why hello." The green faced demon said as he walked into the lobbey of the hotel…somehow able to make it through the vast mass of demons and vamps which surrounded it. He held two suitcases in his hands which he dropped to the ground as he looked around, expecting to see Angel and the others pacing back and forth there, wondering what to do next. "Angel? Cordy? …Evil vampire hunter?" He said quietly as he walked down the steps and looked around the place. 

The two cages that had been brought there by Wolfram and Hart were tossed to the side of the room, with the labels 'mother' and 'baby' still attached and fresh blood dripping down the sides. "He…" He heard something drop behind him and by the time he turned around there was a short blond girl pointing a sword at his face. "…lo.." he said, putting his head down, expecting to be killed right away. 

"Where is Angel?!" she asked, hardly able to contain her emotions. 

He knew this girl from somewhere…he searched his memories and saw the day when Angel had come to him to sing 'Mandy'…this was Buffy Summers. One thing that almost no one else knew about his powers was that he was able to read as far into their past as he could into their future and this girl was a major part of both Angel's past and future. "I…I don't know." He said, starting to slightly whine. "I came here to spend a few nights." He said pointing to his luggage, buffy didn't budge or even remove her eyes from his. "I even have my bags there to prove but…I'm a friend of Angel's." He stated simply, knowing that the small talk wouldn't help his situation at all. This girl was pulsating so many different emotions that he was beginning to get a headache from it, but he knew that she wouldn't hesitate to kill him if she thought that he was there to harm Angel or… "I own the karaoke bar, maybe he told you about it? He has had it destroyed quite a number of times now…" 

"Buffy!" Another voice came from upstairs as a figure emerged from the hallway and began jogging down the stairs, but then smiled as he saw _______ (what's the green demon guy's name??) being held up against the wall with a sword less than an inch away from his face. "There's someone up here, can't get her out of the room though, and she gave me a bloody headache. I thought she was a vampire or demon of some sorts…but no such luck." He shrugged and walked up to Buffy and _______. 

"That's probably Fred…." ______ said, hoping that this would help him. "She also works for Angel, remember, he went to go meet you somewhere a few weeks back, you have to believe me, I mean your wrinkling my new shirt and everything." After a few moments Buffy released him, looking down at the ground. 

"Sorry…i…" She let the thought hang as the demon looked at her. 

This girl had been through so much pain in her life…she didn't even have to sing for him to be able to tell her her own future or what she was feeling. His eyes began tearing as he explored her life. She was just a girl when she found out what she was destined to be, destiny had no mercy on anyone in this world it seemed. She had been expelled and moved to Sunnydale to go to school, hoping that her destiny would stay in L.A. but it didn't and she went through more hardships in Sunnydale than she could have ever encountered in L.A. 

The one time she had been truly happy had been ripped away from her, torn out by the person that wore the face of the one that she loved and trusted most. And when her love had finally returned to her she had to send him away again, sentence him to hundreds of years of pain…of torture and only to come back to her again and make her relive all of those moments. 

She had been betrayed by those she had trusted most and almost everyone that she had ever loved had been taken away from her in some way shape or form…and when she finally met peace she was once again ripped out of it.

**Fate clearly had no sympathy or idea of what it was putting this one girl through. **"It's alright…" He said, trying to hold back the wave of emotion that had overcome him when he looked into her soul. 

"I'll watch this one here, you can take care of that Fred girl, convince her we're…your not evil." Spike finished as she ran up the stairs. He sat down on one of the benches and lit up a cigarette and pointed to the cages. "Who were those for?" 

  
  
~~~~~~~  
A/N: I think it's kinda long but i just couldn't stop writing, lol. Does anyone know the name of that green psychic demon? i cna't find it anywhere!! 


	8. Hello, Lover.

**Paradise for a day  
Chapter 8: Hello, Lover.  
By: Hope**

  
  


Buffy slowly made her way up the stairs, clutching onto the railing the whole time as though she was afraid that she was going to fall. When that green demon…when Lorne had looked at her she had suddenly become overwhelmed with so many emotions, everything from the pain of losing her first tooth to being ripped out of heaven and dealing with the consequences of kissing Spike.

She reached the top of the stairs and began walking through the long corridors. "…Fred?" Buffy said quietly, that was what Lorne had said her name was? 

Buffy heard a loud thud then footsteps coming from one of the rooms to her left. She held her stake out at her side, ready incase a vampire were to attack when she heard the screaming. "No! Please don't hurt me…please." Buffy picked up her pace and began running to the room where the screams were coming from. She entered and looked around the room, it was empty except for the tall vampire towering over the small brunette who was lying down in the corner, looking all over the room for any way to escape. "Hey, buddy." Buffy said, trying to divert the vampire's attention from the girl.

The vampire turned and faced Buffy, growling as he did so but when he saw her he smiled. "Your not the real one…" he muttered, turning back to his prey.

"Excuse me? Real one?" Buffy said, beginning to get pissed off. This vampire looked as though he was only sixteen to seventeen years old when he was turned, his face was slightly chubby and his brown hair looked like it hadn't been washed for weeks, along with his ripped Hanson shirt. 

He turned around, looking at her again as though he was tired of explaining himself. "My friend told me about you…before he was dusted." The brunette slowly got up from the corner and began edging towards the door as the vampire walked closer to the slayer, sizing her up. "But any type of slayer is a good slayer…" he said, putting up his fists. "Bring it on, babe." He added sardonically.

"Buffy…" the girl whimpered. Fred's face went blank when she heard the name…Angel's buffy. This was the one person in the world that Angel actually cared about as much if not possibly more than his new son. Buffy the vampire slayer. The vampire charged at buffy with a punch, she grabbed his arm and flipped him over. "There is only one kind of slayer." She said as she launched the stake at his heart. "And that's me…" she whispered as his ashes covered the floor where he was just laying moments ago, looking up at her in fear.

Buffy turned her head to the brunette. She was skinny and although was safe from the vampire still looked frightened…but not for the same reason. "Hi…" buffy smiled weakly, picking up her stake and walking out the door of the room, turning her head back to make sure that Fred was following her.

Fred followed the blonde out of the hotel room, watching her every step very closely. After being stuck in that alternate universe for so long, Fred had become a good judge of what a person was like, or their defense and attack at least by the way they walked and their minor body movements. "Are you here because of the baby?" Fred finally asked as Buffy stopped and turned around to look at her, confused. "What…"

"Fred?! Are you here?" Buffy heard the doors bursting open to the front of the hotel. She quickly ran over to the small balcony thing that was at the top of the stairs, lookng down at the lobby.

Standing in the doorway was Angel, his face was streaked in dirt and his eyes darted from Spike to Lorne, not knowing what was going on.

Spike and Angel's eyes met and Spike smirked, giving him a little mocking wave. "What are you doing here…" Angel growled, his gaze not leaving Spike's.

"I'm here for the party…mate." Spike added, throwing his cigarette onto the ground and putting it out with his foot. Without any signs, Angel charged at Spike.

"No!" Buffy yelled, jumping off of the balcony, swinging onto the chandelier that hung on the ceiling and then landing in-between the two vampires. 

"…Buffy?" Angel asked, once more confused. His eyes darted from each part of the room, from Lorne, to Spike and then to Buffy again.

Fred stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the scene. How could she ever have feelings for Angel or even think that there could ever be a chance between them? There was obviously no way she could ever live up to Buffy…in any realm of thought. Angel didn't even notice her when Buffy was mentioned, whether she was actually there or not. The only woman that Angel could ever love was Buffy.

"I know this seems weird but…" She looked back at Spike then at Angel again. "Spike's with me, he's here to help." "Help?" 

**Meanwhile….**

"Who are those people with them?" Lilah Morgan pointed out Spike and Buffy with her finger on the TV screen.

"We don't know yet, running image test on both of them as we speak." The technician answered with as much emotion as a computer as he typed away furiously on the keyboard. That was all that Lilah expected of him though, for all she knew he WAS a computer, or an android at least. "Matches found. Bloody, comma, William the. Summers, comma Buffy, semi colon, slayer."

"Slayer…" Lilah said, smiling at the camera as the looked at the image of Buffy Summers. "Maybe she'll be of some use to us, they do kill vampires don't they?" Lilah asked no one in particular when Gavin Park walked into the room, obviously hearing her last comment.

"Buffy Summers…" He laughed, crossing his arms and looking at the picture. Lilah turned around and faced her fellow lawyer and rolled her eyes. He was new to the firm and was getting closer and closer to the top of Lilah's hit list with every remark he made about her or anything else for that matter.

"And you find this funny how?" She asked him, peering over her shoulder to see him opening up some folders from inside of his brief case and handing them to her.

Lilah took the papers and skimmed through them. "You obviously haven't been doing your homework on Angel, Lilah." He said.

"You'd be surprised at all the things I know about Angelu…."

"Yes, you probably do know more things about Angelus, his demon form than he himself might know but have you ever considered looking for things AFTER he got his soul." Gavin said as Lilah turned around to face him, giving him her full attention. "A vampire in love with the slayer. Two years ago Angel reverted back to his old self, lost his soul and all that. You know how the curse goes Lilah, don't you?" He asked, not trying to hide his glee of triumph at all. "Yes I am well aware of the boundaries and…"

"One true moment of happiness and he loses his soul. This Buffy Summers gave him that moment of happiness, they were in love. And from what my sources tell me, they still are." He continued, beginning to stride back and forth in the small room. "A few weeks ago Angel left L.A. to go meet this Buffy Summers whom has seemed to come back from the dead yet again, we still haven't figured that part out totally but we will soon. They met at a secret location and hardly knew what to say at each other, it was quite amusing to watch let me tell you." He began to chuckle.

"Does this have a point?" Lilah asked, throwing the pile of papers on Buffy and Angel onto the side of the desk.

"The point is that this girl is a bigger threat to us than Angel himself is. You've met Faith, you and Lindsay also hired Faith if I do recall so. This slayer isn't like that." He said, looking back at the screen then at Lilah. "This girl has averted over 4 apocalypses, overcome the unbearable and survived under the toughest conditions. She is certainly an enigma. She sent her own lover to hell Lilah. And from what my sources…" 

Lilah was tempted to make another comment about 'his sources' but remained quiet, wanting to know the rest of the story. "The point is that this girl will stop at nothing to defeat what she sees as evil. If she wants it dead it will eventually die a slow and painful death and…." 

"Sir." The technician interrupted Gavin. "We have lost all visual and audio feed from the hotel." 

Gavin rushed over to the technician's side and looked at the snowy screens. "Dammit!" He yelled, pounding his fist onto the table.

**Back at the hotel….**

"A chip? In his head?" Angel laughed, still not able to believe that William the Bloody, Spike, or whatever he was going by now was incapable of hurting any living being.

"Yea." Buffy said as she looked around the room, trying to see if she could recognize anything about it. Maybe if she saw something that she remembered then she would be able to recall that memory of him being human, of his touch… "I don't mean to sound rude…I'm happy to see you but…" Angel hesitated, looking at a stuffed bear that was placed on a chair near his bed. "Why did you call me before?"

Buffy looked down at her hands and smiled sheepishly. "Angel…two years ago, I…I came here to confront you about thanksgiving…" Angel looked at her with such longing. There wasn't a moment that passed where he didn't think about what could have happened to them if he had never asked to become a vampire again. He now knew that Conner would never be born but he still couldn't help wondering…wanting. "I need to ask you something, I need to know that I'm not just crazy…or hallucinating." Her eyes began to tear at the edges as the last few words came out of her mouth. "But…" 

"Slayer." Spike walked into the room with his usual 'bad boy' swagger. He saw Buffy and Angel sitting on the bed and swallowed hard, hoping that his emotions wouldn't take over and control him, no matter how much he wanted them too. "The lil' bit is on the phone." He finally said, throwing the phone to Buffy and then walking out of the room.

Spike made his way into an empty hotel room, finding a small chair and throwing it across the room in rage. Buffy had just saved his life from Angel who would have no doubt...well lost to him but it was a good gesture at that. So one moment she's doing the heroic thing, trying to make it seem like she was saving Spike and then the next minute she was up in a hotel room with her ex. And the only thing that this did to Spike was give him more reason to kill Angel, and soon.


	9. Fill In (This is the new chapter!! I swe...

**Paradise for a day  
Chapter ??: Fill-In  
By Hope**

"I bloody hell won't let you affect me slayer…" Spike said, furiously lighting a cigarette. He couldn't stand seeing them together, no matter what it was about. It was as though the second that she saw Angel, Spike no longer existed. 

"E-e-excuse me…." A small voice said from the door. Spike turned around and smiled at the petite brunette. There was something on her face that he hadn't seen cause by him for too long. Fear. She obviously noticed that Spike had no reflection and walked cautiously closer to him, revealing a large cross from behind her. 

"It's alright mate, I'm harmless." Spike said, throwing his cigarette to the ground. 

"Y-you came here with Buffy." She said it more like a statement than a question. 

"Yea, I came with the slayer." Spike said, picking up the chair that he threw across the room and sitting in it. 

Fred stood across from him in silence, looking around the room and then the floor. "Well are you going to ask me anything? It's not like I'm getting any younger mate, I'm already a few hundred years old." Spike said while lighting another cigarette. 

"Oh right…" Fred said, looking at Spike but then quickly looking back down at the ground. "Do you know why you came…it's just its so…." 

"Sudden?" Spike finished the thought, looking out the large balcony style windows, at the full moon. 

"Yes…" Fred said, looking back down at the floor. 

"The slayer said she needed to see Angel, that he needed her help…" Spike said, throwing another cigarette to the floor with as much rage as possible. "She'd never do that for me. Possibly for that Riley boy that packed up and left her last year but never for me." Spike said, fumbling through his pocket for yet another cigarette. "The problem is that she denies that I exist…she can't make me go away, she could never make me go away…" Spike began rambling as Fred tried to gain the courage to ask him another question. 

She had never seen a vampire besides Angel or Darla, none that she had a conversation with at least and she could sense that this one didn't have a soul…a little trait that she had picked up by being stuck in that hell dimension for five years. But why would he… "So I went with her, figured that I might be able to help, get back on her good side." Spike finished, throwing his carton of cigarettes onto the floor. 

Fred didn't understand what he was even talking about. From what she had heard, in this dimension and the one that she had been imprisoned in, vampires and demons alike feared the slayer more than almost anything else. Why would he want to help her? 

~`~`~`~` 

"How long will it take for you to fix this damn thing?" Gavin asked as he paced back and fourth, trying to make the time go by faster. 

"I'm working on it as fast as I can sir." The technician replied robotically. 

Lilah could hardly contain her childish giggles as she watched her in-work nemesis pace back and fourth, waiting for his precious camera's to be reinstated so that he could watch Angel and his friends walk back and fourth through the hotel. 

"What are you laughing at?" Gavin snapped a Lilah, noticing her smirk. 

Lilah shuffled the papers that she had recently gotten from the bookkeeper in the basement. The full files of William the Bloody a.k.a. Spike and Buffy Anne Summers were placed in the palm of her hand…along with a few videos where Buffy was spotted with Angel. To Lilah, no matter if the slayer would be a valuable ally, she liked the affects that her presence was having on her fellow lawyers. "Nothing. Nothing at all." She replied swiftly as she held the papers tightly in her arms and walked out of the old tech. Room and towards her office. 

**- - - - - - - - - - -**

"So…" Buffy said, looking down at the floor. Dawn had called to make sure that she was alright and that Angel hadn't gone crazy demon boy again (she thinks that Xander wanted Dawn to ask that part) but she had gotten off of the phone with her five minutes ago and since then she had been sitting there in silence with Angel, alone. 

"Buffy…you didn't need to come here. I can handle everything that's going on and I really don't want you to be put in any da…" 

"Danger?" Buffy asked, looking back up at Angel, into his once unreadable eyes. There had been a time when she would do anything for him. They had loved each other and everyone understood…no one tried to stop them. But they really were cursed, not just Angel, both of them. 

"Buffy?" Angel asked, looking at her. 

Buffy realized that she had spaced out and stood up and faced Angel. "My whole life is danger Angel. You don't need to try to shield me from it by not telling me what's going on, especially if any of you might be in danger." Buffy found herself beginning to speak louder and louder, unable to control the rage that began to boil up inside of her. Her yelling wasn't about Angel, in ways it was but it was about everything that had happened to her since she came back. 

"I wasn't trying to." Angel stood up and walked near buffy, trying to put her arm around him but she pulled back. Suddenly uncertain of why she had come there, he didn't need her…had he ever needed her…? 

Yes. He had needed her, once. And when he did need her she sent him to hell. 

Angel took a step away from Buffy, not knowing what he was supposed to do. "You aren't there anymore Angel…" Buffy said, not knowing what exactly she was talking about, only know that it was coming from deep inside of her beating heart. "Your not there anymore…I…when I came back." Buffy began to say as tears started swelling in her eyes. She looked up at Angel and almost wished she hadn't but she couldn't stop now…once she started anything she was never able to stop it… 

"I saw you when I came back, we met there but…something was different Angel, you and I both know it. And I don't want it to be different!" 

"Buffy I can…" 

"No! Listen to me!" She said, interrupting Angel. "I never wanted you to leave Sunnydale but I could deal with it. I thought that at least I would see you that you might even ask me for help if you ever needed it but you didn't. You made the message clear but I never wanted to believe it. Even when I was with Riley I didn't want to believe that you didn't want to be with me." She was sobbing now, unable to control her emotions but losing her original purpose…telling Angel about her dream. "You weren't there when I needed you the most and I know that I'm sounding selfish but it doesn't change the fact that you weren't there. For god sakes, Angel the only person that was really there for me was Spike! SPIKE! He was there when I needed someone. He listened and he kept his promises, and he might be a demon but he's there for me when you aren't there Angel. He came here to help me HELP YOU. You who are arch enemies even while you don't have your soul. He came here because I need him and he knows it. I need someone Angel…" She hesitated, lowering her voice to almost a whisper. "…even if it isn't you." 

She looked up from the ground and back at Angel who wasn't even looking at her…just past her. "So you have nothing to say…" She asked, her anger building up again. 

Angel looked at her then back at the things that were past her, behind her. He looked nervous, scared almost. But Angel never got scared, not for himself at least. "And don't think I'm stupid." Buffy said as she did a back flip, landing behind one of the five vampires that had made their way into the room. 

She took out her stake and slayed him before he even knew what was going on. She then took another stake out from her sleeve and stuck each out to the two sides of her, slaying another two careless vampires who had decided at that time to pounce her. 

The two other ones seemed to have no interest in Angel and also began charging at the slayer. Buffy quickly ducked down and kicked the vampire to the left, sending him against the back wall. When she got up the other vampire punched her in the face, causing her to fall back. 

Angel wanted to run forward and protect her but… "Slayer?" A voice yelled as Angel saw Spike run into his bedroom. Spike saw the situation and quickly ran to Buffy's need, punching the vampire that had knocked her down and then kicking him in the chest, sending him right into Angel, who was just about to join the fight. 

"Just an added bonus…" Spike said to himself as he began to walk to help the slayer up. But before he could reach her something grabbed him from behind. The two remaining vampires grabbed Spike, pulling him away from the slayer and into a wall. One of them broke the leg off of a table in the room, causing everything that it was holding to come crashing down on the floor…on top of Buffy. The vampire charged at Spike with the stake in hand, looking to shove it in his chest. 

But the vampire suddenly stopped, looking down at his own chest, confused. Right before he turned to dust and the slayer was revealed standing behind him, stake in hand. "Spike." She said, looking at him then at the confused vampire next to him. 

"Oh yea…" He said as he turned and punched the vampire in the face, then holding him against the wall as Buffy walked up to him. 

It was as though she had forgotten that Angel was even there. But he knew that she still had questions to ask him, why all these demons were attacking him and why Darla had come back and why all of these things seemed to happen to them. Angel stood behind Buffy, ignoring the bad looks from Spike. "Why are you here?" Buffy asked, holding the stake close to his chest, ready to stake him at any given time. 

"I…i…" the vampire looked at them all then at the stake pointed to his chest. "I work for Wolfram and Hart…We were told to take the slayer and William the Bloody into custody and bring them back to the office…" 

Buffy moved the stake closer, thinking that he was lying. "A law firm that works with demons I highly doubt that…" 

"Actually…" Angel started, Buffy handed the stake to Spike and turned around, looking at Angel. "Wolfram and Hart is sort of how all of this started." Angel said, now knowing that he would have a lot of questions to answer. 

Angel noticed that Spike was whispering something to the vampire. Angel ignored it and looked back at Buffy who was pressing him for answers. Her sadness and tears were gone and all that remained was Buffy the vampire slayer. Not Buffy the little girl, not Buffy the love sick woman. Just Buffy the vampire slayer, the girl that he had fallen in love with so long ago... "How what started?" Buffy asked. 

Angel told her the story of Wolfram and Hart, leaving out the few details of him sleeping with Darla and her having his child…just like Buffy had left out the part that Angel had played in her past when she had told Riley about her life before college. 

Buffy slightly nodded and turned back to Spike who had been standing next to a pile of dust. "Uh…he tried to escape." Spike said as he put the stake down and began walking out the door. 

Buffy turned back to face Angel. "I'm not leaving. Not until I know that everyone here will be fine, Willow can handle things in Sunnydale until I…" 

"Willow?" Angel asked, not knowing about Willow's sudden burst in magic powers since she had died. 

"And Anya, and Xander, I'm sure that Tara would help too…" Buffy said, not wanting to tell Angel about Willow's magic problems, not knowing what he would do about it, even if he would do anything. 

"Can we talk about this in the morning?" Angel asked, beginning to walk out the door of his room. 

"No Angel." Buffy said, making him hesitate and turn around to face her. Her tone was firm and unresolved. Her tears had totally cleared up from her outburst before and her face was emotionless. "Tell me what's going on. Now." 

Neither of them moved for what seemed like hours. Angel didn't want Buffy involved in this, she would get herself hurt or killed and he wouldn't be able to live with having to lose her again. He couldn't bear it, even if he had his son, Buffy was his oldest and purest link to the world. "Wolfram and Hart is after something that we have…" He said quietly, not being able to look Buffy in the eye.

"Well what is it?" Buffy asked, taking a small step towards Angel. 

"…" Angel stood there, unable to know how to tell this to Buffy. He had slept with Darla last year when he was on a road down the wrong path and he had thought that it had been buried deep in his past but it seems that X's always come back to haunt you.

Buffy looked at him, trying to read his eyes or his face for any emotion at all. The strange part was that she could, he was sad and even afraid, and tired. When Buffy had first met Angel the only way you would know what he was feeling is if he told you or when he was Angelus, by how he left the dead bodies laid out. "Well? What is it Angel? I can help you, want me to or not I will help you." She said, her voice not yet faltering. 

"…" Angel looked at Buffy trying to contain the sadness that began to rip through his soul. "We don't know." He finally lied. "That's why I need to head back to Cordelia's. I'll be back in the morning." Angel said, turning back around and walking out of the hotel room. Leaving Buffy to stare out into the empty hallway. 


	10. Dreaming of you

A/n: Not everything is explained in this chapter,like what happened after the last one and stuff but i'll fill that in next time! Sry for such the short chapter, byes~!~ review!!!!!  
  
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Paradise for a day  
Chapter 8: Dreaming of you  
By: Hope  
  
2 hours, 43 minutes and 34 seconds remaining until it becomes 2 hours and 44 minutes later…

**  
  


There he was again. He walked out of the shadows and towards her, his pace was hurried and wanting as though he didn't think that he had that much time there. Buffy had never noticed how pale he actually was before this moment, when the warm beams of sunlight reached his pale, smooth skin. 

Their eyes met as Angel wrapped his strong arms around the slayer and kissed her. She passionately returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his strong, muscular shoulders and embracing him like she hadn't done since before the curse was lifted from him so many years ago… 

Buffy knew that she shouldn't be kissing Angel, she shouldn't of even gone to see him, she had Riley now. But it wasn't Riley that she thought of as her lips were locked with Angel. It was only Angel, it was always Angel. 

Angel pulled away from the kiss and looked at Buffy as her eyes began tearing. "I don't under…" He put his finger to his mouth. 

"Shh…don't speak." He said, studying her face, her emotions. He had waited so long for something like this to happen, he had waited so long for there to be an excuse for him to kiss her the way that he always had dreamed of doing…in the sunlight. 

Even though Angel cherished every moment of it, he knew that it was only a dream, the same dream that he had had since it had first happened. Since he had become human but then given it up for her, for the slayer…for Buffy. 

He looked at Buffy, knowing that the dream would end soon, knowing that this was how it always ended and would forever end. He put her hair behind her ear with his hand and saw a distant shadow of someone behind her. 

The Buffy in front of him seemed to become dark, distant as the shadow grew brighter and close with every breath…with every breath that Angel took into his fully functional human respiratory system. 

The figure stood next to him, looking at something in the distance. "Your new." She said, walking into the sand of the desert that now lay before them. 

Angel didn't find anything to do but follow her. All he could do now was follow Buffy(the figure) and hope that she would lead him out of this dream. Buffy walked slowly across the sand, never hesitating or moving her head at all. 

She stopped and Angel walked up to her, stopping when he was next to her. This part of the dream was new… 

Buffy stood there staring at the sand and few pieces of dead grass and flowers. "It's always the same." She said, her voice was toneless as she looked up at Angel. "Except for you, your not usually here." She said, looking back down at the ground. Angel followed her gaze and saw one of the only things that he wished he would never have to see in his life. 

Buffy was looking at the edge of the tall tower, towards the sun that was peeking out of the clouds and her eyes widened. She looked back at Dawn who immediately started sobbing, asking her not to go. 

Buffy hushed her and told her that she was ok and what to do and that everything would be alright. She then turned around and began running, full speed towards the edge of the tower and when she reached it…she jumped. "Every night I watch my own death, I see the place that I was in after it and how I was pulled out." Buffy said, still staring at the faint image of her limp body laying on a pile of rubble, with her friends and family staring at it, shocked. 

The image then changed to something else…Buffy rising out of her grave, having to break her way out of her own coffin. "You gave up your human life for me Angel…" She stated as the sound of a distant baby crying became louder every second. "It wasn't Willow's spell that brought me back…" She looked up from the ground and turned her head slightly so that Angel could only see the side of her pale smooth face. "It was you." 

The sound of the baby crying in the background became unbearable to Angel and the image of Buffy looking at him slowly faded and he found himself sitting up on the couch in Cordelia's living room. 

Angel got up and tried to think about what he had just dreamed about and what was going on around him but his thoughts were drowned by the sounds of a very cranky Cordelia telling him to shut 'the cute little baby the hell up.' Oh, the joys of parenthood.


End file.
